A 30-year-old Little Rock man admitted Monday to wounding another man in an April shooting that police say was captured on video.
But prosecutors dropped aggravated robbery charges against Andre Demetrious Smalley Jr. stemming from a 2014 armed robbery, citing the December slaying of Smalley's accuser, 43-year-old TC Edwards.
Edwards, a beloved local musician, was the only witness, deputy prosecutor Erin Driver told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright. No one has been arrested in Edwards' slaying, and his friends, who regularly attend Smalley's court hearings, have offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to a murder conviction for his killer.
Smalley pleaded guilty Monday to first-degree battery in the April 5 shooting of Javian Booth in exchange for prosecutors dropping a second battery count and drug charges representing marijuana and scales found with Smalley when he was arrested five days after the shooting.
Driver said she also had to drop a felon in possession of a firearm charge against Smalley related to complaints that he and another man had exchanged gunfire in April 2013 in the 2000 block of South Taylor Street in Little Rock.
A witness had recanted her story, the prosecutor said. No one was injured in the shooting.
Smalley's plea Monday involved the shooting of Booth and Anthony Atkins at the Our Community Market on Wright Avenue on April 5, an incident police say was recorded by the store's surveillance cameras.
Police stopped Smalley the night of the shooting and seized a pistol but did not immediately arrest him because Booth and Atkins declined to cooperate with investigators. He was only arrested April 10 when prosecutors filed formal charges.
According to police reports, Booth was clubbed in the head and shot in the right leg, while Atkins was wounded in the buttocks in a melee at the convenience store. Police say the two men were set upon by three men after Atkins laughed off a request to buy marijuana from one of the trio.
Smalley agreed Monday to accept a 10-year prison sentence for the April 5 shooting, but formal sentencing will be delayed until Smalley resolves federal gun charges stemming from the pistol discovered the night of the shooting and an AR-15 rifle found in his car when he was arrested.
He was indicted in federal court in May on two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. His trial is scheduled for January.
Smalley has a prior conviction for felon in possession of a firearm. Federal court records show he was sentenced to 46 months in prison in August 2005.
Smalley also has state court convictions for first-degree forgery, escape and second-degree battery, court records show.
Metro on 07/28/2015